MeditationSpace

 The blue doors...









My friend Nima Sherpa, who has taken me into the mountains so many times.

Many of the old parts of Kathmandu and Patan are being rebuilt from the earthquake 4 years ago.










 The exhibition from our last trip to Nepal...I think we called it the Hem of Enlightenment.

One of the PhotoKathmandu installations.  

Lilitpur Nepal

Heading for Kathmandu, around 1970....

A young, very talkative monk at Boudhantha, the very large Buddist Chaitaya in Kathmandu.  The plan of the temple, and the temple itself, is one very large mandala.  One of the many manifestations of the Buddha, this one is the Buddha of magic and teaching. He is drinking the very sweet milk tea, which is often served when you are a lone and thirsty visitor.  They also like to serve the Hobnob cookies.

 stone mandala, Salt Lake City...these are all meditation spaces

 Inside a Buddhist Temple, up in the mountains

 The plan of a Buddhist temple, called a Chaitaya in Nepal, imitates the structure of the universe and designates a sacred space. These temples in a settlement define the limits of meaningful sacred space against the surrounding continuum of profane and non-significant space, or chaos.

This is a shrine inside a Buddhist temple, where all of these commonplace objects can assume a holy or sacred character. 

 PhotoKathmandu, takes place mostly, outside in the city of Lalitpur also called Patan.

 Back in the 1960's and 1970's Kathmandu attracted many counterculture people seeking spiritual enlightenment

Kathmandu

 Delhi Airport around 3:00 AM, lots of people trying to get through the line for Indian visa.

 

 PhotoKathmandu exhibit is all around both Lilitpur (Patan) and Kathmandu.  Photos are hung in the streets, in tiny ally ways, in small rooms up narrow stairways.

 Old temple and the endless tangle of wires

 Two of the volunteer guides for the PhotoKathmandu exhibit, they both happen to be English literature majors

 Angels and lions are watching over us

Nepal Art Council Exhibition of paintings

The place where I am staying in Patan is an old restored Newar house.  It has very low ceilings, tile floors and exposed beams.  

a taste of a Mandala

epistemology. a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge. ...epistemology, or theory of knowledge, did not begin in modern times. ... The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and origin of knowledge. what do we know and how do we know it? Why do we accept or believe, what is the evidence for, how do we know?...logic? Reason? Maybe we construct what we know out of whatever is available.  Because we are told.  All Instinct.  Intuition?  By the Spirit...revelation.  Books.  Data.  Observation.  By making Art...Through our senses...history, personal experiences...magic

Mandala and mandala disappearing

Spirit Mandala

1. epistemology. a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge. ...epistemology, or theory of knowledge, did not begin in modern times. ... The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and origin of knowledge. what do we know and how do we know it? Why do we accept or believe, what is the evidence for, how do we know?

2. What is the difference between spirituality and religion?

Why do we have to go to church? Can’t we just take a walk and read the scriptures and meditate?

Why would we want to talk about spiritual topics in school? 

to help students understand things differently
to help student self regulate, deal with the stress of life
to connect students to a sense of wholeness and different cultures
to think about or question our purposes
as a way to develop understanding and tolerance

Why would we not want to talk about these things?

The Mandala

For Tibetan Buddhists, the mandala represents a magical and sacred realm created by enlightened artists that symbolize the perfected environment of the Buddha. Could an art class have similar rituals or rules designed to move students toward artistry or enlightenment? Paradoxically, the projects with the most rules can create the deepest satisfaction for student.

Mandala refers to a sphere of nurturing, a magical and sacred realm created in order to nurture development toward enlightenment. The mandala is a pictorial representation of the tantra. Tantra means continuity, or way of life according to the teaching. A mandala can be viewed as a visualization of an inner psychological or spiritual reality or as the human body itself. The mandala teaches us to have an understanding heart, in a way it is a self portrait.